648 NATURAL SCIENCE. ^iov.. 



far superior to any we have previously seen, both as works of art, and 

 from the varied nature of the views. They enable us to realise how 

 the scenery of a reef alters with the nature of the genera that formed 

 it. Thus one shows us the shrubby aspect of reefs in which Madrepora 

 preponderates, in contrast to the flat, smooth terraces of some species 

 oi Millepora, or to the hummocky, mound-studded expanses of reefs 

 formed by Goniastraa, Diplovia, and other Pseudothecalia. The photo- 

 graphs must all have been taken before the days of telescopic photo- 

 graphy, and the views across wide tracks of level reefs therefore suffer 

 by the distortion of distance. But it is marvellous that, with such 

 difficult subjects, the views are as successful as they are ; the genera 

 can usually be recognised, while the general effect is as beautiful 

 as it is instructive. Mr. Saville Kent must be as good a photographer 

 as he is a zoologist, and whatever may be our judgment of the book 

 when it appears, all students of Corals and Coral questions will be 

 grateful to the author for these splendid representations of coral life 

 and growth. 



Biological Stations. 



It is gratifying to announce remarkable progress of late in 

 the foundation and extension of Biological Stations. We learn from 

 the Feuille des Jevnes Naturalistes, of September i, that Professor 

 Sabatier has now made all arrangements for the erection of the new 

 buildings of the Station established eleven years ago at Cette, on the 

 Mediterranean coast, in connection with the University of Montpellier. 

 The requisite sum of money has been collected, and the erection of 

 the laboratory is now far advanced. The situation is especially 

 favourable for the study of all kinds of marine life, both animal 

 and vegetable, and many important researches have already 

 been carried on in the temporary institution. Another Marine 

 Biological Station has lately been established by private munificence, 

 and by donations from learned societies, at Bergen, on the coast of 

 Norway. This will provide accommodation for ten naturalists, and 

 will be under the direction of Dr. J. Brunchorst. Arrangements are 

 also in progress for the foundation of a small station at Cumbrae, on 

 the west coast of Scotland, with special facilities for the investigation 

 of the marine algae. In India, too, there is shortly to be a new Biological 

 Laboratory at the Calcutta Zoological Gardens, this with the special 

 object of facilitating researches on snake-poison. 



The Anti-Vivisection Challenge. 



Apart from the exhibition of beautiful groups of marine life in 

 the Aquaria, the general public manifest but little interest in the 

 ordinary Biological Stations. It is only when a Biological Laboratory 

 is the scene of physiological experiments on the higher animals, that 

 public attention is particularly attracted to it ; and this not from any 



